Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah said on Thursday that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) completely disregarded reports made by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) regarding the constant and documented Israeli espionage.
“The STL does not seek the truth [about Hariri’s assassination]”, Fadlallah said during a press conference dedicated to look into the telecommunications evidence included in the indictment.
“The indictment will have very dangerous outcomes yet it is only based on co-location and a number of colorful phone networks,” he added.
Fadlallah questioned the credibility of such evidence asking, “Are telecommunications data reliable or have they been manipulated [by Israel]?”
Fadlallah accused the STL of creating a sharp division in Lebanon due to the course of investigation followed by STL committees.
Diana Abou Ghanem of the Telecommunications Ministry underscored the possibility of fabricating and canceling text messages as well as cloning SIM cards.
“Having access to a password or to a phone’s serial number makes the infiltration of a network possible,” she added.
Abou Ghanem also said that it is possible to penetrate communication networks, SIM cards and electronic ships.
Mohammad Ayoub said that Israel can easily manipulate telecommunications data, fabricate fake calls and ‘tag a person’s voice in a fake audio recording.”
Deputy Head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Imad Hoballah said that Israel’s infiltration of Lebanon’s poorly protected telecommunications sector puts the validity of the data used in the indictment in question.
Hoballah added that the Lebanese Military Intelligence revealed the Israel breached and used the phones of the three accused of espionage by Hezbollah.